Oxford Parks and Recreation is everyday 'fun and fellowship' for all ages

Mar. 24—OXFORD — While the swing of the bat has become the soundtrack of the Oxford Parks and Recreation Department, it offers a much broader range of activities for residents young and old.

The Oxford Civic Center recently hosted a full house with a Valentine's Senior Adult Day and a robotics competition while Choccolocco Park served as a racing track for area students' Greenpower USA cars and an outlet for Santa's Christmas Festival of Lights.

The spring and summer months mean the department is gearing up for its busiest of seasons and there will be something for everybody.

"We pride ourselves on being just a little bit different — not just rolling the ball out there with a baseball," said PARD Director Don Hudson. "Everybody has that. I think the biggest thing we do different than anyone else is having a variety of activities."

Hudon mentioned Choccolocco Park as having a Frisbee area.

"How many parks have a Frisbee area?" he asked. "Not many."

"There is never a day we don't have something going on," Hudson said. "The Civic Center has something happening seven days a week and that includes our Easter Egg hunt coming up and our senior dances," he said.

Hudson mentioned the upcoming Oxford Kiwanis Club's car show scheduled for May 13 at the civic center

"I don't know how many citywide car shows there are that are sponsored by the municipality," Hudson said.

When it comes to the young at heart, the Masters Games of Alabama returns to the Civic Center June 14 and 15. Those include competitions in Rook, dominoes, cornhole, Nerf football throwing, softball throwing, Frisbee throwing and basketball free throwing designed for senior citizens participation.

"I had a picture brought to my attention of a 70-year-old man doing a high jump and was asked why we couldn't do something like that," Hudson recalled. "Well, we could and we did. With help from the East Alabama Agency on Aging we organized it and formed the Masters Games of Alabama. It keeps our seniors active and gives them a purpose and a goal."

Those games now draw competitors from across the state and PARD has also started a senior softball league which has been playing for three decades.

"We have guys who started when they were 50 and have been playing for 25 years," Hudson said. "It's about fun, fellowship and having a good time."

Hudson spoke of the recent robotics competition hosted at the civic center.

"These robotics kids now have a goal, and it's not just helping their education but also their pathway to a career," Hudson said. "I love things like that because everybody's not a ball player."

City spokesperson Lorie Denton added the robotics competition is a major force in economic recruitment for the city.

"The things Don and his staff do here all work in a positive way for economic development," Denton said.

That economic development activity also shows itself when the civic center hosts the East AlabamaWorks' World of Works each year showcasing career choices for junior and high school students.

"That is a major event for local workforce development," Denton said.

Hudson returns to the fun and games theme noting the hosting of the Trinity state basketball tournaments with players from private Christian schools participating.

"We had 36 teams come in this year," Hudson said.

There is also senior aerobics, basketball camp, playgrounds, splash pads, disc golf, 5K runs, pickleball, kayaking and music with the annual Gospel Weekend.

And, there is Choccolocco Park.

Hudson said the new renovations underway will increase the seating capacity at Signature Field to 2,000.

Along with dugout connected locker rooms and other amenity improvements, Hudson believes it will cause events which have already called the park home to become even bigger draws.

One of the new anticipated draws will be the professional women's softball team when it starts play on Signature Field. That team will fill the vacancy of the Choccolocco Monsters baseball team, which announced the decision March 20 to leave after one season — but demonstrated the field could handle that level of play.

"Our goal for Choccolocco Park is probably not as high as it should be set because we really didn't know how well it would be received," Hudson said.

He said the park was built specifically for "travel softball and baseball games."

"Because we had a signature-style field, we had something no one else had and I think things snowballed," Hudson said. "Travel ball got so big there were people lined up to play."

"The kicker was when we got the state high school softball tournament," he said. "To me, that's the biggest event we've had. We had the international events last year, never thinking we would have that, then the junior college games."

"Once one conference gets here, they tell the others," Hudson said. "It's been word of mouth."

The park also brags about its amenities such as the frisbee space, exercise pods, playgrounds and walking track.

"Choccolocco Park offers so many activities other than baseball, softball and soccer," Hudson said. "Not even Jacksonville State has a track that compares to Oxford's."

He also gives credit to the PARD staff saying the city could have the best facilities in the world "but we have a staff that knows and understands what we are doing and could not do without."

Hudson flashes a smile when he says he knew the park was successful "when most of the people knew how to pronounce 'Choccolocco.'"

"I hope our citizens don't take us for granted," Hudson said. "We hear good and bad. The mayor and City Council have always been supportive. We're proud of our senior citizens programs. We're proud of our youth programs. And, we're proud we have such a variety of both active and passive recreational opportunities."

Staff Writer Brian Graves: 256-236-1551.